GE deal at depot extended for $30M

Engines power Blackhawk and Apache copters

A $30 million Army contract for General Electric Aircraft Engine means
the Corpus Christi Army Depot will continue to receive needed parts for
Blackhawk and Apache helicopters.

The contract is the second extension in as many months for the
company, said Rich Gorham, a GE spokesman. The Army extended the same
contract by $10 million in September.

With more than 3,000 workers, the depot is one of the Coastal Bend's
largest employers.

The parts for the T-700 engine will be shipped primarily from a
facility in Lynn, Mass., Gorham said.

"This is not the first of its kind for GE," he said. "This is a
standard arrangement to supply parts to depots so they maintain the
needed inventory to do overhauls and get engines back in the
field."

The T-700 powers the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters for the Army
and other applications for the U.S. and foreign militaries and
commercial customers. The investments pay enormous dividends to the
community, said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, who
announced the contract earlier this week.

"Everywhere I go where there are U.S. service men and women, they go
out of their way to tell me how much it means to them to get in a
helicopter repaired at CCAD," Ortiz said in a prepared statement. "They
know CCAD is populated by veterans who understand that lives literally
depend on the quality of our repairs."